1MDB case: Malaysia demands Roger Ng's return

NEW YORK - Malaysia demands that the former Goldman Sachs bank officer Roger Ng, who was found guilty last year in New York for stealing 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds, return to the country before continuing his 10-year prison sentence in the United States (US).

Reuters reported Brooklyn US District Judge Margo Brodie stated the court delayed the date for Ng's handover scheduled for Sept 6, by a month to Oct 6, 2023.

US public prosecutor Drew Rolle over the matter said they required more time to discuss with Kuala Lumpur before allowing Roger to be tried there.

He added that the US was now working to ensure all procedures ran smoothly to avoid delays in sentencing.

"The US is now working towards ensuring the procedures to control the return of the defendant will not affect his sentencing here (in the US)," he said.

It was understood that the case involves roughly US$6.5 billion (RM30.2 billion) in Goldman bonds that were used to aid 1MDB in 2012 and 2013, which was said to have almost US$4.5 billion from the total to be taken by officers, banks, and friends.

Drew said in the court trial last month that Roger, 51, could be returned to Malaysia for a trial as soon as he was in US custody.

A lawyer representing Ng agreed with the one-month delay, but one of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, refused to comment on the matter.

Agnifilo explained during the trial that Malaysia wanted Roger's cooperation in the 1MDB investigations.

Another Goldman Sachs bank officer who was Roger's boss, Tim Leissner, pleaded guilty and gave a statement towards Roger in the proceedings, but Leissner was not sentenced yet.

In another development, businessman Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, who was said to be the ringleader of the 1MDB scheme, was now hunted and criminally charged but remains free to this day.